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-Presents-
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THE STORY OF THE THREE BEARS
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by Robert Southey
Once upon a time there were three Bears, who lived together in a house
of their own in a wood. One of them was a Little, Small, Wee Bear; and
one was a Middle-sized Bear, and the other was a Great, Huge Bear.
They had each a pot for their porridge, a little pot for the Little,
Small, Wee Bear; and a middle-sized pot for the Middle Bear; and a
great pot for the Great, Huge Bear. And they had each a chair to sit
in: a little chair for the Little, Small, Wee Bear; and a middle-sized
chair for the Middle Bear; and a great chair for the Great, Huge Bear.
And they had each a bed to sleep in: a little bed for the Little,
Small, Wee Bear; and a middle-sized bed for the Middle Bear; and a
great bed for the Great, Huge Bear.
One day, after they had made the porridge for their breakfast and
poured it into their porridge pots, they walked out into the wood while
the porridge was cooling, that they might not burn their mouths by
beginning too soon to eat it. And while they were walking a little old
woman came to the house. She could not have been a good, honest, old
woman; for, first, she looked in at the window, and then she peeped in
at the keyhole, and, seeing nobody in the house, she lifted the latch.
The door was not fastened, because the bears were good bears, who did
nobody any harm, and never suspected that anybody would harm them. So
the little old woman opened the door and went in; and well pleased she
was when she saw the porridge on the table. If she had been a good
little old woman she would have waited till the bears came home, and
then, perhaps, they would have asked her to breakfast, for they were
good hears-a little rough or so, as the manner of bear's is, but for
all that very good-natured and hospitable. But she was an impudent,
bad old woman, and set about helping herself.
So first she tasted the porridge of the Great Huge Bear, and that was
too hot for her; and she said a bad word about that. And then she
tasted the porridge of the Middle Bear, and that was too cold for her;
and she said a bad word about that, too. And then she went to the
porridge of the Little, Small, Wee Bear, and tasted that, and that was
neither too hot nor too cold, but just right; and she liked it so well
that she ate it all up; but the naughty old woman said a bad word about
the little porridge pot, because it did not hold enough for her.
Then the little old woman sat down in the chair of the Great, Huge
Bear, and that was too hard for her. And then she sat down in the
chair of the Middle Bear, and that was too soft for her. And then she
sat down in the chair of the Little Small, Wee Bear, and that was
neither too hard nor too soft, but just right. So she seated herself
in it, and there she sat till the bottom of the chair came out, and
down came she, plump upon the ground. And the naughty old woman said
wicked words about that, too.
Then the little old woman went upstairs into the bedchamber in which
the three Bears slept. And first she lay down upon the bed of the
Great, Huge Bear, but that was too high at the head for her. And next
she lay down upon the bed of the Middle Bear, and that was too high at
the foot for her. And then she lay down upon the bed of the Little,
Small, Wee Bear, and that was neither too high at the head nor at the
foot, but just right. So she covered herself up comfortably, and lay
there till she fell asleep. By this time the three Bears thought their
porridge would be cool enough, so they came home to breakfast. Now the
little old woman had left the spoon of the Great, Huge Bear standing in
his porridge.
"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN AT MY PORRIDGE!"
said the Great, Huge Bear, in his great gruff voice. And when the
Middle Bear looked at his, he saw that the spoon was standing in it,
too. They were wooden spoons; if they had been silver ones the naughty
old woman would have put them in her pocket.
"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN AT MY PORRIDGE!"
said the middle Bear, in his middle voice.
Then the Little, Small, Wee Bear looked at his, and there was the spoon
in the porridge pot, but the porridge was all gone.
"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN AT MY PORRIDGE, AND HAS EATEN IT ALL UP!"
said the Little, Small, Wee Bear, in his little, small, wee voice.
Upon this the three Bears, seeing that some one had entered their house
and eaten up the Little, Small, Wee Bear's breakfast, began to look
about them. Now the little old woman had not put the hard cushion
straight when she rose from the chair of the Great, Huge Bear.
"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN SITTING IN MY CHAIR!"
said the Great, Huge Bear, in his great, rough, gruff voice.
And the little old woman had squatted down the soft cushion of the
Middle Bear.
"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN SITTING IN MY CHAIR!"
said the Middle Bear, in his middle voice.
And you know what the little old woman had done to the third chair.
"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN SITTING IN MY CHAIR, AND HAS SAT THE BOTTOM OUT OF
IT!"
said the Little, Small, Wee Bear, in his little, small, wee voice.
Then the three bears thought it necessary that they should make further
search; so they went upstairs into their bedchamber. Now the little
old woman had pulled the pillow of the Great, Huge Bear out of its
place.
"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN LYING IN MY BED!"
said the Great, Huge Bear, in his great, rough, gruff voice.
And the little old woman had pulled the bolster of the Middle Bear out
of its place.
"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN LYING IN MY BED!"
said the Middle Bear, in his middle voice.
And when the Little, Small, Wee Bear came to look at his bed, there was
the bolster in its place, and upon the pillow was the little old
woman's ugly, dirty head-which was not in its place, for she had no
business there.
"SOMEBODY HAS BEEN LYING IN MY BED-AND HERE SHE IS!"
said the Little, Small, Wee Bear, in his little, small, wee voice.
The little old woman had heard in her sleep the great, rough, gruff
voice of the Great, Huge Bear, but she was so fast asleep that it was
no more to her than the moaning of wind or the rumbling of thunder.
And she had heard the middle voice of the Middle Bear, but it was only
as if she had heard some one speaking in a dream. But when she heard
the little, small, wee voice of the Little, Small, Wee Bear, it was so
sharp and so shrill that it awakened her at once. Up she started, and
when she saw the three bears on one side of the bed she tumbled herself
out at the other and ran to the window. Now the window was open,
because the Bears, like good, tidy bears as they were, always opened
their bedchamber window when they got up in the morning. Out the
little old woman jumped, and whether she broke her neck in the fall or
ran into the wood and was lost there, or found her way out of the wood
and was taken up by the constable and sent to the House of Correction
for a vagrant as she was, I cannot tell. But the three Bears never saw
anything more of her.
-The END-